As an edible sclerotia-forming fungus, Poria cocos is widely used as a food supplement and as a tonic in China. High-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) was applied to identify triterpene acids in fermented mycelia of P. cocos, as well as the epidermis and inner part of natural sclerotia. A total of 19 triterpene acids were identified in fermented mycelia, whereas 31 were identified in the epidermis and 24 in the inner part. Nine triterpene acids were quantitatively determined, and the concentrations of two valuable triterpenes, dehydropachymic acid and pachymic acid, reached 1.07 mg/g and 0.61 mg/g in the fermented mycelia part, respectively, and were both significantly higher than the concentration in the two natural parts. The fermented mycelia could be a good choice for producing some target triterpene compounds and functional foods through fermentation thanks to the high concentration of some triterpene acids.

Headspace‐gas chromatography‐ion migration spectrometry (HS–GC–IMS) combined with chemometrics was used to analyze the changes in volatile aroma compounds (VOCs) at different production stages of steaming Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua. Fifty‐seven representative compounds in the process of steaming were identified, including 17 aldehydes, 15 alcohols, 15 ketones, 5 esters, 3 furans, and 2 acids. After steaming, the content of 21 compounds decreased. Among them, 3 compounds gradually decreased along with an increase in steaming times; they were 1‐hexanol dimer, 1‐hexanol monomer, and 3‐methylbutan‐1‐ol dimer. The content of 14 compounds increased than before, and that of three, 1‐(2‐furanyl)ethanone monomer, 2‐furaldehyde, and 3‐methyl butanal, increased significantly in the steaming times. The VOCs of the different samples can be classified by GC–IMS data combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and heatmap cluster analysis. A reliable prediction set was established by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS‐DA), and 18 different VOCs with projected variable importance (VIP) greater than 1.0 were screened out, which could be used as differentiating markers. Therefore, HS–GC–IMS and PCA were used to rapidly identify and classify the VOCs in different production stages of steaming P. cyrtonema Hua.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the most common phenomena in ischemic disease or processes that causes progressive disability or even death. It has a major impact on global public health. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of application in ischemic diseases and has significant clinical effect. Numerous studies have shown that the formulas or single herbs in TCM have specific roles in regulating oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory, inhibiting cell apoptosis, etc., in I/R injury. We used bibliometrics to quantitatively analyze the global output of publications on TCM in the field of I/R injury published in the period 2001–2021 to identify research hotspots and prospects. We included 446 related documents published in the Web of Science during 2001–2021. Visualization analysis revealed that the number of publications related to TCM in the field of I/R injury has increased year by year, reaching a peak in 2020. China is the country with the largest number of publications. Keywords and literature analyses demonstrated that neuroregeneration is likely one of the research hotspots and future directions of research in the field. Taken together, our findings suggest that although the inherent limitations of bibliometrics may affect the accuracy of the literature-based prediction of research hotspots, the results obtained from the included publications can provide a reference for the study of TCM in the field of I/R injury.

Huxie Huaji (HXHJ) Ointment is a famous traditional Chinese medicinal prescription and is commonly used for the clinical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma by boosting immunity and detoxification. However, the scientific evidence for the effect of HXHJ Ointment on hepatocellular carcinoma and the underlying molecular mechanism are lacking. The present study aimed to identify the effects of HXHJ Ointment on hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo as well as investigating the mechanistic basis for the anticancer effect of HXHJ ointment. First, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to verify the composition of HXHJ Ointment and quality control. Second, in vitro, Cell Counting Kit (CCK8) cell viability assay and Hoechst 33342 staining assay were performed to explain the cell apoptosis. The protein levels of tumor suppressor protein (p53), B-cell lymphoma 2 gene (Bcl-2), cytochrome C (Cyt-C), and aspartate proteolytic enzyme-3 (caspase-3) were examined by immunofluorescence. Finally, in vivo, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to observe the pathological changes in hepatocellular carcinoma samples. Western blots and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the anticancer properties of HXHJ ointment. The results in vitro showed that 20 HXHJ Ointment serum could significantly inhibit HepG2 cell proliferation, increased tumor suppressor gene p53, downregulated antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, promoted the release of mitochondrial Cyt-C, activated caspase-3, and induced HepG2 cell apoptosis. Furthermore, in vivo experiments showed that HXHJ Ointment could effectively inhibit tumor growth in nude mice xenotransplanted with HepG2 cells, changed the morphology of tumor cells, and regulated the expression of apoptosis-related protein pathway p53/Bcl-2/Cyt-C/caspase-3. HXHJ Ointment can significantly inhibit the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of p53/Bcl-2/Cyt-C/caspase-3 signaling pathway to induce cell mitochondrial apoptosis.

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is a rare and valuable plant utilized for medicinal and culinary purposes, with its geographic origin and cultivation significantly affecting its quality and efficacy. However, the metabolic differences between cultivated and wild American ginseng are not well understood. An accurate and reliable method for tracing the origin and evaluating the quality of American ginseng is therefore urgently required. This study introduces a UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS-based comparative metabolomics and machine learning strategy for the rapid identification of wild and cultivated American ginseng. Both principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis revealed distinct metabolic phenotypes between wild and cultivated American ginseng. Furthermore, the integration of univariate and multivariate statistical analyses identified eight differential metabolites in the ESI⁺ mode and three in the ESI^- mode, including seven ginsenosides. A potential ginsenosides marker panel was used to construct five machine learning models to assist in diagnosing the metabolic phenotypes of American ginseng. The Random Forest model, based on the eight differential metabolites in the ESI⁺ mode, achieved a 100% classification rate in both test and validation sets for distinguishing between wild and cultivated American ginseng. This study highlights the feasibility and application of our artificial intelligence-driven comparative metabolomics strategy for cultivar identification and geographic tracing of American ginseng, offering new insights into the molecular basis of metabolic variation in cultivated American ginseng.

Carpesium abrotanoides L. is rich in sesquiterpene lactones, the experiments of anti-tumor activity in vitro showed that total sesquiterpene lactone extracts exhibited the most cytotoxicity activities against HepG-2 cells (IC₅₀ = 4.2 μg/mL). In order to isolated the active compounds quickly, the strategy of HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS combined with high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was implemented. Three sesquiterpene lactone compounds, 2α,5α-dihydroxy-11αH-eudesma-4(15)-en-12,8β-olide (1), telekin (2), oxoeudesm-11(13)-eno-12,8α-lactone (3) were obtained. Their structures were elucidated by detailed analysis of 1D, 2D NMR and HRMS data. In addition, compounds 1-3 were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against HepG-2 cell line with IC₅₀ value of 9.83, 2.95, and 4.15 μM, respectively. Moreover, all compounds not only can reduce the expression of JAK2 and STAT3 mRNA but also inhibit the p-JAK2 and p-STAT3 protein expression levels in a dose‐dependent manner in the HepG-2 cells. In conclusion, three sesquiterpene lactone compounds inhibited the proliferation of HepG-2 cells via suppressing the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.